Is the "National Electrical Code" on the web?

[maradcliff]

Is the "National Electrical Code" on the web?

[Speedy Jim]

No. It is copyrighted.

But your local library more than likely has a copy Plus they could have some useful handbooks on the Code as well as DIY books.

Jim

[Minnie Bannister]

Even if it is on the Web, it is (so some say) written in such a way that the authors can get away with charging big buck$$$$ for seminars to teach people what it all means.

MB

On 11/17/04 07:15 pm [e-mail] put fingers to keyboard and launched the following message into cyberspace:

[MC]

Now how the hell can something part of regulation can be damn copyrighted.

If the government has any law, regulati> > Is the "National Electrical Code" on the web?

[Greg]

Most of the people in these seminars are required by law to put in a certain number of hours in class every year as part of their licensing requirements. These days you can get the same thing in professional chat groups but you won't get the certified CEU hours.

[Clark Griswold]

[Greg]

If you think the NEC is expensive now, imagine how much it would cost if the government was doing it. Nothing from the government is "free".

[Jeff Cochran]

Yes. Not for free though.

Also, you won't understand it, and you'll apply the wrong sections. Check instead with your local code officials for what applies to your project, and get a basic wiring handbook.

Jeff

[Doug Miller]

Because the National Fire Protection Association wrote it, and they therefore own the copyright. It is up to individual states or municipalities to decide whether to adopt the Code as law, or not, as they see fit. The NFPA has no law-making or enforcement power.

And it normally is, in those jurisdictions where it has been adopted as law.

[John Hines]

The code check series of books reduces the code down to understandable pieces, intended as a quick lookup for the trades. Available for electrical, hvac, plumbing, building.

IMHO well worth the $$.

and of course, amazon.

I'll agree with other posters, the actual code book is more like legalese, and will drive you nuts if you try to make sense of it.

[Greg]

I think there are some people who think copyright law should be more in line with patent law. It is absurd that the guy who invents a car that runs on sea water will lose his patent protection in less than 2 decades but the guy who writes the owner''s manual is protected for almost a century.

[default]

Copyright protection doesn't really limit people the way patent protection does, though. If you invent a new way to turn grass into building panels, nobody else is allowed to do that, If you write a story about a boy who meets a girl, and they hate each other, and therefore fall in love, anyone else can write another story on the same theme. So patents protect a much bigger chunk of intellectual space, but for a shorter time period.

[Greg]

Obviously you are not an inventor. In your example the person is protected from someone using exactly the same method of turning grass into building panels but if someone makes a minor change in the process they can patent it as the new and improved grass panel. It is much like your novel. Again the basic idea is not protected, only the particular details of the process to realize the idea. It is also a lot harder to actually get a patent. That is why so many things are marked "patent pending". If you actually waited until you got the patent before you bring the product to market someone will knock you off and saturate the market before you can stop them. If you look at the history of great inventions it is never the guy who came up with the idea who got rich, just the guy who got it to market first.

[m4rcone]

Should, but isn't. For example, there are now federal regulations regarding air travel that you have to abide by, but aren't allow to know. All in the name of national security.

[Duane Bozarth]

Government has nothing to do w/ NEC...it's a trade association standard, privately financed. Didn't you read the other response(s)???

Regarding your other contention, I don't think there are any actual laws that aren't available. There undoubtedly are specific implementation regulations that for obvious reasons aren't disseminated to all. This is nothing new (commercial nuclear power plants, for example, have had security plans that are strictly confidential for years, far predating

9/11)...

[RBM]

[William W. Plummer]

Right. The Federal Air Regulations (not to be confused with the Federal Acquisitions Regs) are 14 CFR. You probably are interested in Part 121.

[m4rcone]

Nothing to do with implementation. See Gilmore vs Ashcroft.

In short, the goverment and airlines claim that federal regulations require the showing of ID before boarding a US domestic flight, however they *refuse* to say which law or regulatation actually says that, and no such law or regulation has been published.